Chemical Burns
by GunjiBunny
Summary: Robbie Shapiro discovers he was a talent for science and chemicals and stumbles upon a new energy pill that could make him very rich. Follow the rise and fall of Robbie as he lives, learns and finds the true meaning of friends and love. Retelling of my story "My Life As Robbie"
1. Chapter 1

**AN - I own nothing and please support the official release. I would love reviews and ideas on this story which is basically a re-imagining of my story titled My Life As Robbie **

Everyone thought that the first of the gang that would get their faces in the paper would be Tori or Andre maybe even Jade. That's why it was a surprise when it was Robbie who got his face in the paper; it wasn't from landing a lead in a play or movie, nor for creating an album. No Robbie's face was plastered all over the front page of the LA post because of his crimes again the area. He had been stupid for making drugs to begin with, he was stupid for sampling his own product, and he was stupid for becoming addicted to it. Then when he accidentally discovered a less then legal way to increase the strength of the drug he became a real piece of work especially when that meant breaking into school after hours and accidentally starting a fire that nearly killed him and one of his best friends.

Standing at his locker Robbie set Rex in his own locker before looking through his own, as a Junior the appeal of Rex himself was growing thin but it allowed him an outlet without causing himself direct harm. Another plus was that he actually convinced Principal Helen to allow him to still have a second locker for Rex.

"I'm so proud of you Robbie, you grow up so fast. It was almost like it was yesterday when you were running around in your underwear in your Sponge Bob underpants," snickered Rex earning a weak smile from Robbie but a laugh from someone behind him. Spinning he saw Jade standing there looking over a large cup of steaming coffee watching him with piercing eyes. It was strange, usually Jade beat Robbie to school, so arriving first was a rare occasion in itself. Now she stood there watching him like a lioness watches her prey. Gulping he muttered something about a time out and closed Rex inside his locker. Quickly putting his science book inside of his bag he closed his own locker and turned to face her.

"Good morning Jade, how are you today?" he asked politely earning nothing but silence from Jade. "You know the more you sneak up and watch me the more I assume you like what you see." This earned a confusing smirk from Jade as she walked away leaving Robbie a confused mess. Yes she and Beck broke up a few weeks ago but her silence just made him more uneasy, his attend at wit had backfired at him again. Sighing he made his way towards science class to look over a few questions from homework before class started.

Hurrying over to one of the tables he set his books down and was going to start writing when he noticed a pearpod on the table next to him. Tapping it he was surprised to see it was paused on a man with a wad of cash in his hands. Hearing a thud he jerked back and looked around franticly before realizing it came from the other side of the table. Peeking over he saw Sinjin sleeping on the floor. After waking the young man up the boy told Robbie that he arrived really early and started catching up on his favorite TV show and must have dozed off and fallen off his chair.

"What show?" Robbie asked looking at the pearpod.

"Teaching Lies, except the Te is Tellurium and Li is lithium, you know from the periodic table?"

"Yeah but what is it about?"

"Oh," Sinjin said, "It's about this teacher who has a tumor and because he's dying he decides to teach a former student how to make drugs so that he could use half the money to support his family after he dies."

"Sounds interesting," Robbie mused.

"Yeah there are a lot of twists and surprises, but it comes on Sunday night and I need to be up early for school." Before he could continue the bell rang as the rest of the students filed in. As the teacher went on about the lesson Robbie began writing different ideas to check out the show and that drugs equal money. Of course Robbie had a hard enough time taking baby aspirin let alone any kind of hardcore drugs so maybe this wasn't going to work out for him. Then again, using his pearphone, he began looking up caffeine drinks and noticed that there wasn't really anything out there that would give you energy and not be addictive at the same time. There was a lot more research to do but he had a game plan and by the time the bell rang to show class was over he had planned out a name for his pill, 'Cistro'.

Lunchtime was less strained then normal but the rift could still be felt. It went Tori, Andre, Beck, Cat, Jade and then Robbie, sometimes Rex and even though the group talked like normal there were times when Jade would glare at Beck and everyone would go quiet. Today Cat was talking a mile a minute about something her brother had done over the weekend that landed him in Clown College. Andre, Beck and Tori were playing a new game on their phones called Wacky Race and really into it. Jade was listening to her music while picking at her salad and Robbie still wrote in his journal about the breakdown of Cistro. He found it easy and fun to look up and study chemical compounds, if acting didn't work out for him he could at least fall back on this.

"Cistro that your geeky superhero name?" Jade said tearing the journal from Robbie's hands to look it over; luckily he figured that advanced science wasn't Jade's forte. Unknown to Robbie Jade did know a thing or two about science but she had never seen strands like these before.

"No it's just my science homework," he said snagging it back and tucking it away. Looking at him skeptically she knew he was lying about something. Despite popular belief Jade did consider Robbie as a friend and she was a people watcher, being able to tell when something was off and right now his left eyebrow was twitching just a little. Knowing that tell was how she was able to beat him so often at poker, that and he often forgets how to play poker. For now though she'd let him go and continue to watch him, so she popped some gum into her mouth and rose to throw her garbage away and head to class just as the bell rang.

"How does she do that?" Cat asked and Robbie nodded, she was always perfectly on time. "I couldn't figure it out even when we dated," commented Beck as he put away his phone glumly, somehow from last place Tori had won again. "Internal clock," suggested Andre as he watched Tori do another victory dance. Once Jade was out of sight Robbie returned his gaze to Tori and Cat, there were two people who would never need his drug.

"ABC improve," said Sikowitz once everyone sat down in their seats, "We are hosting an acting talent show for the community and you are all allowed to participate however we will be needing judges. The winner gets one thousand dollars," the class cheered at this, "The judges get A's for the semester just an incentive to judge instead of act. Anyways the improve we are going to do will have Jade, Robbie and Beck as the judges and Cat, Henry and Tori, you be the contestants."

Taking seats behind a table Robbie instantly knew what he wanted to do and hoped the others would follow suit. First Cat came up smiling.

"Start with the letter U!"

"Umbrella-ella-ella-a-a-a," sang Cat.

"Very nice but this isn't a singing competition," said Beck.

"Wow, just wow," said Jade with a sneer, "Might look into modeling, don't need a high IQ for that." Before Cat could speak and get knocked out Henry came up,

"X-cuse me"

"Nice try but wrong Henry," called out Sikowitz, "Sit down."

"Yo yo yo dawg," said Robbie with a smile, "Yous need to calm down, her pipes are tight."

This earned a laugh from everyone in the room and got Cat to ease up. They managed to go around a few times with Tori getting out next at G, Beck at V and Cat at T. Soon it was only Jade and Robbie doing ABC banter back and forth to each other when the bell rang.

"Good job Jade I bet you have a real chance to win that one thousand," comment Robbie as he gathered his things.

"Thanks Shapiro, you too"

"Don't tease, you know I have no shot against you."

"You speak the truth puppet boy," she smiled showing teeth before leaving. On his way out Robbie took the position of judge number one.

Later that night he sat in his room with Rex on the bed watching TV. Blowing dust off the chemical set that his father got him for Hanukah he began to read the instructions and try to figure out the best way to separate the chemicals from the forms that they were currently in, pills he had picked up from the store on the way home and some caffeine pills he got from the gas station. As cartoons played in the background Robbie went to work spending hours and working through the night. Soon the cartoons faded to the next show, Teaching Lies.

The dream was a strange one since he never actually watched the show, only heard it while he slept but it helped him figure out what he was doing wrong. Before falling asleep all of his attempts either fizzled away or blew up in his face. With only a few tries left he tried to rest his eyes by removing his glasses and setting his head down. A few moments became complete sleep.

"Robert" came a voice behind him as someone shook him awake. Sitting up Robbie turned and saw a younger man standing behind him.

"Robert we need to get the newest batch out of here, the neighbor's reported the last explosion and the police might be here soon." Wiping his eyes free of the tiredness that was there his hand reached over to the unmarked bottle of pills but drew pause. "Come on Robert you're almost done," the man said reaching pass him and twisting to make the heat lowered, "Lower heat to make so the high comes through into the pill form, that's what you taught me remember?"

"Yeah that's it, that's why it blew up. The heat was too much and the energy was becoming too great and."

"Boom"

"Yeah Boom" Robbie agreed as he went back to work but they heard sirens in the distance. Taking that as their cue they snagged everything that was done and went to smashing the things that weren't. A few minutes later they were running and climbing through backyards of the people around them. Leaping over one fence Robbie stumbled and fell into a pool, the rush of freezing water jerked him up causing him to fall backwards and wake up for real. Scared he looked around the room and remembered what happened for real and in the dream and he tried to take into reality his dream and was happy to see it was working. Glancing at the clock he saw that it was almost four am so he sighed and looked at the pills in the cup he had. There were six of them and he had school in two hours. Despite his feelings that it would be a bad thing to get hooked on drugs he needed a test subject, yawning he felt his eyelids grow heavy and before he could reconsider he picked up a pill and swallowed it down. The effect was instant and that feeling of tiredness was gone, of course he felt his heat rate start up as if his heart was an engine and he just hit the Noz. Moving back to the table he continued to work and have twenty more pills by the time it was time for school. Showering, dressing and heading out the door he remembered the pills but forgot Rex.

Normally it took him twenty minutes to get to school on his bike but he went ahead and ran the whole way there, not even breaking a sweat. These pills were amazing and so far no real bad side effects, aside from a racing pulse and the awful powerful hunger that was coming on to him. Arriving at his locker he opened Rex's and looked through the puppet's secret stash of junk food. Someone clearing their throat from behind him got his to lift his head out, chewing on some licorice as his eyes fell upon Jade who had a large cup of coffee in her hand and a perplexed look on her face.

"Shapiro? What are you doing here so early?" she asked.

"Early? Am I early?"

"I relish these few moments of empty school before it fills up yet now I find you hear eating chips?"

"Yeah I'm just super hungry," he said swallowing, "I'll leave you alone if you want to enjoy quiet time." With that he left her still completely confused on why he was even here.

Lunch time he felt the night of little sleep start to hit which was good and bad. Good that the effects seem to last eight hours, bad that he was so tired. It didn't prevent sleep just pushed it down for eight hours. Which was amazing considering no other energy supplement did that without a crash. Head down on the table as the others came around him he forced himself up and looked at everyone there. Cat and Tori were looking through a magazine while Jade joined Beck and Andre in their video game and was apparently winning from the looks of his male friends. Turning around and leaning against the table he stifled a yawn as he looked across the courtyard. Most were eating but there was Courtney and Claire sitting at a table with their boyfriends, instead of chatting and eating they were studying. Seniors with midterms coming up this was an important time for them as they tried to get into their colleges of choice. When the bell rang he noticed the boys getting up but the girls staying. Taking a deep breath he said goodbye to the others and walked over to the table.

"Excuse me girls?" he asked timidly, "The bell rang"

Courtney glared at him but Claire looked at him with soft eyes.

"Free period, we take this time to study." She said.

"Are you two losing sleep over these things?"

"Sorry?" Claire said as Courtney slammed her pen down.

"Look nerd, we have boyfriends so spit it out or leave us alone."

"I've been up for over twenty four hours; I created a new energy pill. The only side effects are that your pulse gets a little fast a first and you get the munchies since it increases your metabolism."

They looked at him oddly.

"Are you trying to push drugs on us because I cannot." But Robbie cut her off.

"No not drugs, energy pills, all natural energy pulls. First one is free," he said holding out two pills.

"I am kind of tired," mused Claire and not taking her eyes off Robbie she took one and swallowed it down, despite Courtney's complaining.

"Well?" Courtney asked and Claire smiled.

"It feels like I can run a marathon easily now," she said and Courtney took the other one swallowing it.

"Lasts for eight hours and you'll return to the very state you are in now, so Claire you'll be a little tired but that's all."

"What do you want for these a date or something?" Courtney said.

"No, I need money so I want to sell these. I think it'll be handy once midterms and finals hit so I was hoping, if you like them, you could spread the word on the down low about these pills."

"What's your number?" Courtney asked and once she had it she said she would call him if she decided to. Smiling, thanking and walking away from them he didn't notice that the final bell had already rung and he would be late for class. He wasn't going to be the only one as Jade watched the entire thing go down.

In Sikowitz's class Jade was grumpier than ever. When asked what was wrong she told Andre that she got a detention for being late to class. Robbie found this odd since Jade was always on time but let it go until after school for he had detention as well, that visit with the girls made him late as well. Sitting in the almost empty classroom he tried to say hi to Jade as she took her seat, far away from him and put in her ear buds to listen to her music. Sighing Robbie went back to work writing about his new drug, being as tired as he was he fought falling asleep as well as taking another pill. Yes he was going to be the test subject for every new batch he created but he didn't want to become addicted to them, instead he pushed them to the bottom of his pocket and listened to music of his own.

On the way home Robbie was surprised to be stopped by a truck that pulled on the side of the road in front of him. Waiting and watching, ready to run if needed he watched as a guy got out of the car, anger in his eyes and Robbie recognized him as Courtney's boyfriend. Getting ready to run he was grabbed by the guy.

"What the hell did you give my girl?" he demanded choke holding Robbie who gasped.

"Energy pill," he barely got out.

"She had something to drink with me after school and started to throw up."

"Must react poorly to alcohol, I don't drink so I couldn't have known, is she okay?" Letting Robbie go he frowned.

"She's fine and told me everything; those pills seem to work well enough. I want some, I have to study for my history final and if I don't pass I can't get into Yale." Nodding Robbie pulled out the bag and handed over six pills.

"Only take one at a time, I haven't tested more than one and it seems to be enough." Nodded the guy opened his wallet and handed Robbie a hundred bucks and he gasped again.

"If it works it's worth more than that," the guy, Kyle said handing over a twenty as well. "Twenty bucks a pill, but I want a refund if I fail." He said his eyes glaring at Robbie who nodded. A few minutes later he was left alone with the money in his hands. Slipping it away he took out his notebook and wrote out that the pill reacted poorly with alcohol. Sighing he climbed onto his bike and headed home, with midterms in a week he might be able to make a lot of money really soon and the thought of everything he could buy made the ride a lot easier.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN - Please review and support the official release.**

Yawning at eleven pm Robbie hurried downstairs, his parents were out on a second marriage honeymoon type of thing and his sister was asleep upstairs. Yanking open the door he wasn't really surprised to see a wide awake Kyle standing there, what did surprise him was the bear hug the young man pulled him into.

"I got an A on my test! Yale here I come and all thanks to your miracle drug!" Kyle shouted.

"Can't…breath" gasped Robbie as Kyle let him go, "Not a drug but also not just because of it, it just helped you stay awake and study more."

"I spread the word to all my friends, and if you want I can help you out?"

"Sorry what?" Robbie said motioning for him to come inside and sit on the couch.

"I'm going to Yale for businesses so I figure why not start now? I have half a semester left in school and as long as I coast through my classes I can run the store while you create the product. We split the profit but I only need twenty percent, for summer break before I hit up Yale," he said with a grin.

"Twenty percent, so out of our deal you'd get twenty and I'd get one hundred?" Robbie said trying to think it over of course the tiredness was coming back and for a moment he considered taking one of his pills. "I like it, yeah sounds great."

"Awesome, I took a pill two hours ago and just started working on the plan, I have an outline now."

"Kyle please I haven't got a pill right now and I do need some sleep, besides my little sister is asleep upstairs. I'll show up early at school tomorrow and meet you then to go over things." Robbie said and Kyle nodded starting to leave but paused as Robbie cleared his throat.

"Something's bugging me Kyle, why are you at Hollywood Arts instead at some type of school for business?"

"If I'm going to be a producer for movies I'm going to need to know the business side of things and took it to heart. Tiger Gates Studio is going to blow Disney out of the water in sales one day." With a laugh Kyle was gone. Once he was back upstairs, checking in on Jessica first, he went into his room and instead of crawling back into bed he sat at his computer. Kyle was a senior which meant that he was in a special section of the Slap reserved for the graduating class and being friends with Sinjin had its perks. Logging into Sinjin's account brought up the account that declared him to be a senior since freshman year. Clicking through the many ladies who though they were befriending some hot senior Robbie found Kyle's page and his update.

Kyle – Aced my test Yale, here I come, after spending the summer abroad with my beautiful girlfriend.  
Courtney – Can't wait 3

Looking around the Slap he hacked further into the site using Sinjin's codes and was able to read Kyle's Private Messages such as a few to Courtney he quickly blushed and closed. There were a few going from Kyle to his friends bragging about the energy pill. Closing the site down Robbie went back to lying in his bed, not sleeping. Reaching under the night stand he pulled the bottle taped under it bringing it up and looking at the pills that were inside. Since tomorrow was, well today, Friday then he could ask Beck if he could come over and borrow some alcohol. Though responsible enough Beck started drinking around the time his mother passed away, nothing dramatic like murder or anything just good old fashioned cancer, a bad hand indeed. Beck speculated that his drinking too much led to Jade and him breaking up but that wasn't just it. Of course not being able to drink while energized up was probably a good thing and not something that he wanted to change so it couldn't become a party drug or anything. Still bringing a real friend in might be a good idea especially tomorrow since he needed someone to watch out for him since he was going to take two pills.

School started off a little odder then usual as a few juniors approached him, some boys that were used to bullying him. Luckily he didn't bring Rex to school again he really didn't want to spend the weekend gluing him back together again. Sighing he tossed his wallet into his locker and closed it before turning to face his tormenters. Before they could reach him Kyle appeared out of nowhere and between them.

"Need something boys?" he asked with a smile and they gulped.

"We hear that he's the man to see about energy pills."

"You heard incorrectly and are going to spread the word. You want Cistrine you let me know; I take the payment and supply you with the energy later. Robbie is not to be approached or bothered with any information regarding these pulls you got that?"

The kids nodded and took off; Kyle winked at Robbie then went along on his way.

"What was that about?" asked Tori as she came up behind him.

"That's Kyle Henderson, he's a senior and I guess my friend. Those kids usually bully me, they broke Rex on more than a few occasions but I guess Kyle was tired of it." Robbie explained not wanting to breech the subject of the drugs.

"That's nice of him; if he wasn't dating Courtney I'd ask him out, he's a real dream boat."

"I guess, what are you doing here so early Tori?" Robbie asked but someone answered first.

"Miss Ray of Sunshine made me drive her so we can finish our script before class," said Jade seemingly coming out of thin air behind him.

"Yeah I had to bribe her with imported coffee and a large coffee cup so that she didn't leave me in the desert again"

"Hey it was your idea to jump out of the car to begin with, I was just taking the scenic route," Jade said with a smile and a look where you know she's lying but can't prove it.

Watching as the two girls argued Robbie found himself admiring Jade, it must have taken time to make her as pretty as she was especially since she got here well before everyone else. Returning from his thoughts he noticed that Jade was watching him, Tori was nowhere in sight. Gulping Robbie started to make an excuse when Jade stepped closer to him and smiled.

"Why Robbie don't think I haven't noticed the way you've been watching me lately," she whispered before turning and walking away as the first of the other students started to arrive. There was a swagger in her hips that Robbie guessed was just for him, another way Jade was teasing him. Shaking his head he started to class. The day flew by rather quickly but Robbie could see other students wanting to talk to him, or casting glances at him but not approaching. It seemed that Kyle's warning went across the student body, while he was putting his things away and grabbing his lunch he heard someone slam against the locker next to his. Not Jade's because that would hurt considering that there was scissors glued all over. Closing the locker and looking towards the person who arrived he was glad to see it was only Beck, however his smile soon fell as he saw there serious look in his friend's eyes.

"Beck, what's" he stated but Beck cut him off.

"So Robbie I was in English and Donnie Davis was telling me that you supplied his sister with some sort of drug that keeps her up to study. Is that true, are you pushing drugs?" he asked angrily and Robbie grabbed him and dragged him into the nearby janitor's closet.

"Look Beck I was going to tell you all about it tomorrow, it's an energy pill not a drug. All natural ingredients that I created at home in my room. It's not addictive, doesn't give any high and actually doesn't mix with alcohol unless you love to vomit." Robbie explained.

"You're not a doctor Robbie how can you even begin to understand what you're doing here?" Beck demanded.

"Look I'm not a little kid and honestly I got a little ahead of myself and it spread like wildfire but Kyle is the face. It won't come back to me and it's more like that energy drink MonStar without the crash and guarantees eight hours."

"Who learned that it doesn't mix with alcohol, you don't have any at home."

"Courtney did," Robbie said looking down.

"Long term effects, what if you take more than one, what if someone snorts it down? These are questions you have to think about otherwise something might happen to one of your customers and they try to sue you. Robbie you could go to prison, did you ever consider that?"

"No MOM I didn't consider that or anything else but thank you so much for your concern," Robbie snapped at his friend who looked surprised and hurt. "In fact I think I'll just skip school and go home and reevaluate the whole formula." Opening the door he felt Beck's hand on his own and roughly pulled it away glaring at him with such anger in his eyes before storming out. In the hall he ran right into Trina Vega who glared and snapped at him. Instead of letting her berate him he stood up for once.

"Maybe if you actually had any talent at all you would have been somewhere else surrounded by real friends instead of those you bully into tolerating you." He spat out with anger in his eyes that no one had seen before. Stammering a bit Trina started to regain herself when Jade stormed up to them.

"Go away Trina, he beat you in a game of wit this time, walk away," she hissed under her breath before leading Robbie towards the doors. Once outside she let him go and looked back at the closed doors. "Robbie Shapiro I do believe you've grown a pair, and I must say I am quite impressed." As if to continue the streak of ballsyness he reached out and snagged her hands in his.

"Go out with tomorrow night, Nozu's" Jade froze, staring at him with shock and surprised but she slowly nodded and before Robbie could think of chickening out he kissed her cheek, smiled and turned to walk home. Jade remained there, still for a moment before her hand went to her cheek and she smiled.

Throwing his bag into the corner Robbie pulled open his drawer and counted out eighty of the one hundred that Kyle first gave him in order to pay for dinner, he wasn't going to forget it like last time. Once it was settled away he sat down on his bed and checked his phone, there was a message from Kyle. Courtney must have given him his number; clicking it he saw that Kyle had collected twenty orders for thirty six pills. Already having fifteen of them Robbie set to work creating the rest and by the time the final bell had rung at school he was done, with five extra. Putting the product away for Monday he used a pen to separate two from the five on his desk. Beck's words swirled in his mind and he covered two pills with his own hand. This would be the first real batch to go out into the world, if he miscalculated a single thing then Beck was right and he'd be in jail. Taking a deep breath he held two of them in his palm and rolled them around a bit, closing his eyes he decided what needed to be done, and popped the pills into his mouth.

Suddenly the world seem to slow down, he could feel the blood moving through his veins, hear the footsteps of ants in the walls. His eyes dilated and his breath caught in his throat and the sound of an ocean roared through his head, then he blacked out.

The braying of his alarm jerked Robbie awake and he slowly lifted his head from where it lay on his desk. His mouth was extremely dry and it felt like he'd been repainting the house. Scouring the room he tried to take in what had changed, first off the light was different. Looking at the clock he was surprised that it read 10am, if that was right he'd been awake for maybe nineteen hours, more than double the time than one pill. Hell he wasn't even sure he was awake that entire time, without a witness there wasn't a way to be sure. Next time he would have a witness; there would definitely be a next time. Sitting at his desk he opened his laptop and was amazed to see what he had been working on. Sikowitz had told them at the beginning of the year that a play was needed to be done by the end of the year and the winner would get not only an A but his or her play performed for his old college friend Don Heats, a blockbuster director. Checking the status of the last save Robbie deduced that he had been up for at least eleven hours if not more, unlike one pill though taking two instantly shut the body down in a way to make up for the lack of sleep. Reaching for a pen to jot down the side effects he knocked it from the table. Reaching down to pick it up he noticed something under his bed. Falling to the ground he pulled it down, it was a long box. Yanking the lid off he fell silent for a few moments before lifting up the single sheet of paper and reading it over and over again.

Dear Robbie,

This is going to be the oddest thing ever, even stranger then if you get to second base with Jade. A note to yourself, from yourself? Regardless I decided to write this in case one of the side effects are memory loss, I'm really close to figuring out how to increase the strength so that the side effects aren't as bad as they are. The reaction to alcohol should remain the same so we don't get in trouble for that. Anyways I understand that for our own health and safety you shouldn't take two more but I implore you. Let me finish what I have started, it really will be for the best.

With all my love,

Me.

Setting the paper back into the box Robbie rose and checked his watch. Sending a quick text to Jade asking for Sunday dinner with her he set things up as he waited for her reply. Setting up the webcam on his computer to record and the old recorders his dad had bought him few years ago he got ready to tape himself completely. His phone beeped and he smiled at the reply from Jade saying that it's find but if he's going to chicken out then at least prepay for dinner. Texting her back that he wouldn't dream of standing her up, he cared about her and his person way more than that. After getting the lol reply from her he locked the phone up separate from the battery just in case. Heading downstairs to eat and drink he saw a note from Jessica stating that she was spending the weekend at a friend's. Returning to his room a bit later with some extra bottles of water he sat at his desk and took a deep breath. Once it was out he picked up the two pills and readied them pausing for just a second before adding the final pill and swallowing all three down with a big gulp. Instantly, the world went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN - I own nothing, please support the official release. Please review and bonus points if you know where the restaurant is from.**

Three pills had been a very bad idea.

It seemed that taking more than two had a very opposite effect than Robbie could have ever imagined. Waking up the next day at exactly twenty hours after he first took the pills Robbie awoke with a terrible crick in his neck. Pressing play back on his laptop and just skipping through the footage showed that he fell asleep and didn't wake up at all. Reaching under his bed he didn't even find a new note to himself. Well if all else failed he could up the dosage per pill and sell it as a very powerful sleep aid. Smiling he knew that there wasn't anything wrong with his pill and would be fine putting it out in the public, if some dumb student tried taking more than two would just knock them out. The only bad thing might have been if they took the pills while driving or anything. It was fine though, there will be strict warning labels and he would make sure that Kyle knew to tell all the customers not to be morons. Checking the time he realized that he only had four hours before his date with Jade. Rushing into the bathroom to shower and get ready. After a twenty minute shower Robbie was combing his hair and gelling it so that he could look better than the messy head that Jade and the others saw at school. That was when he noticed something odd behind his left ear. Leaning close he pushed the ear flat so he could see the skin behind it and the series of bumps behind it. It looked like a small rash or something, scratching at it didn't hurt but it looked red. Shrugging it away he moved into the bedroom and began looking through his closet for something to wear he actually called ahead to Nozu's to see if he could reserve a table.

Dismayed to hear that Nozu's was closed since yesterday Robbie threw on a black turtleneck as well as his boxers and socks and sitting down at his computer. Checking into local restaurants he was glad to see that he had the extra money because there was this new Japanese themed restaurant located a few miles from his house. Texting Jade the new location he asked her to meet him there because he was still carless. He got a reply asking if she needed to pick him up and he replied that it was okay, in case the date went bad and she wanted to split. The reply was, "I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt" and it got Robbie to smile widely since she was giving him a chance and didn't correct his term of a date. Agreeing that if she was ready, so was he and she said she'd be there in twenty minutes. Using that time to finish getting dressed and try to gain some semblance of control over his hair he started downstairs pausing at his sister's room. "Jessica? I'm heading out for a bit, want me to pick you up some dinner?" "Nah, thanks though bro but pizza should be here in ten," she said eyes not leaving her computer. It seemed she was just as big of a nerd as he was and with a small laugh he continued downstairs. Despite the confidence that came from Kyle and the allure of the business Jade still intimidated him. At school they had gotten on well enough however he was still wary of her she was like an exotic, beautiful jungle cat and him some sort of prey. He no longer felt like an antelope watching her out of the corner of his eyes, more like a jungle cat himself only one not as rare nor strong enough to prove himself to her, not just yet. There was a fluttering of gentle knocks at the door that drew him from his thoughts and he went over to it and opened it.

Jade was as stunning as she normally was and any other person would have assumed she didn't dress up at all, still wearing what she normally wore to school. However with how much time he watched her he knew something was different and that was the subtle shade of red she had applied to her lips. "You gonna stand their all night gawking or are we going to get some dinner?" she asked with that ever present smirk on her face. Gulping and grabbing his coat as well as Jessica's he followed Jade out the door, a second later opening it and tossing the pink coat back inside before climbing into Jade's car. Jade's music blocked out any and all nervous small talk Robbie could spill out breaking that air of confidence that led him to ask Jade out in the beginning. Instead he found himself looking at the window tapping his foot to the rhythm of her bands earning him an earnest look from jade at every red light thinking that he might be as much of a nerd as he is at school. Pulling up to restaurant called "Shinjitsu" she looked over at him, "Really?" "Yeah since Nozu's is closed and I promised you Japanese we'd go here." Nodding approval she started to get out but paused when Robbie rushed out of the car first, before she could ask questions he held the door open for her as well as the door to the restaurant. True Beck could act like a nice guy but she'd never been treated with this level of respect before. Shinjitsu ended up being a Teppanyaki restaurant where they used an iron grill to cook, serve and display skills of cooking including flipping a piece of shrimp into Jade's mouth since Robbie declined. "Jewish," he explained to the cook as he and the others applauded to Jade who already knew about it. "So no Shrimp?" "No Shrimp or Pork, though my parents are okay with us drinking dairy products those are usually out as well. On the plus I'm not allowed to eat insects." This earned Robbie a laugh and an odd look from Jade. "Somehow the lug heads in grade school thought it was funny to make me eat dirt but respectable enough to listen to me when I tell them it's against my religion to eat bugs so they didn't make me." They continued swapping stories back and forth until the chef tapped the grill in front of them bringing them to. Jade was about to snap when she realized that the chef was dressed in street clothes. "No offense kids but I have a class in a few hours and I want a few hours of sleep." Robbie smiled and paid as they walked outside into the night.

Checking his watch Robbie was surprised to see that it was so late, "Almost eleven thirty, I should go home and check on Jessica." "Hop in, I bet I could get you home in five minutes." This actually got Robbie to pale a little bit, "I live like twenty minutes away." Once again that devilish look appeared in her eyes that Robbie had grown to really like, most times. As promised though, five minutes later Robbie was standing at his front door unsure how he was really standing. "You know Robbie tonight was a lot more fun than I thought it would be, especially since you cancelled it yesterday. You turned it around this time, next time I'll really be expecting something spectacular." "Next time?" Robbie said hopefully gaining another smirk from Jade who leaned in to brush his cheeks with her lips. In a burst of confidence he turned his head and connected his lips with hers. Instantly he felt fireworks and explosions and from the elongation of the kiss and slight intensity Robbie knew she felt it too. Pulling back they were both breathing a little heavy and Jade leaned in again, catching his face this time. And granting him a kiss on the cheek before winking at him and walking back to her car.

Sighing stumbled inside and right into his mother standing there tapping her foot on the floor. "And just where were you young man?" she asked a hint of irritation in her voice until he smiled, "On a date" "With a girl?" "Yes mom," he said walking pass her to his room. "Next time a little warning if you're going out late." Pausing Robbie turned, "I'm sorry mom, I thought it would end in disaster but it really was a great time." "Good night Robert," she said trying to hide a smile that was on her face, from a young age she was worried that her special little boy wasn't social but it seemed she was worried for nothing.

It didn't have to be girls that Mrs. Shapiro was worried about as Robbie happily climbed into bed, he should have stayed up a little longer and checked his email. The next morning he went to his computer to check the Slap before heading to school. His smile widened as he read Jade's post about how her dinner wasn't as bad as she braced herself for it to be. However it slid from his face when he opened his email and saw fifty new messages from Kyle, most were the day after he took the pills going all up to today. Pulling out his phone he called his partner. "Robbie? Where the hell have you been, you missed Friday and I've been trying to call you all weekend." "Sorry Kyle I just tested a new formula on myself, note that you shouldn't take more than two pills over a course of eight hours." "I already know that!" cried out Kyle and Robbie took notice that he seemed very much stressed out. "Calm down, what's going on." "Skip school, come over to my house it's 152 Flower Street, now!" Hanging up Robbie did just that and biked his way over to Kyle's house. Before he could knock on the door and disturb his family Kyle caught him and dragged him in the backyard to a shed. "What's going on?" Robbie demanded pulling away from Kyle's grasp. "It's Jerry man, he had a test and needed to stay awake so he took two pills but he couldn't feel anything at first. I told him that it must be something with his system because he's bigger than most but he didn't care and took three more. At first everything was fine but then he fainted or something and started to twitch and freak out." "When did this happen?" Robbie demanded shaking Kyle from his stupor. "Saturday around noon." "Has he been out this whole time?" "I wish. He was acting like a wild man broke a lot of things in my shed here. We have plenty to pay for replacements but at the same time it's been almost forty eight hours and he's just lying there twitching. Robbie I cannot lose this scholarship and if he dies." "Shut up," snapped Robbie with such authority that Kyle obeyed.

Looking inside Robbie saw the state Jerry was in and sighed taking out his phone. "Who are you calling?" Kyle asked but Robbie turned away. "Hey Alexander it's me Robbie. Yeah Cat's friend. Been better honestly but you can help me out, you still on the anti-psychotics? Great, so still in medical school? Can you come down to my friend's house on 152 Flower Street and take a look at someone? I'll fill you in when you get here. Thanks man, I owe you big time." Hanging up he turned to Kyle. "Know Cat? My friend from school, the red head? Her brother was so messed up that it took a lot of pills to balance him out, they discovered he was a genius who was too smart that it drove him a bit crazy. He's been cured for a year now and already has two doctrines." Nodding Kyle simply sat down biting his nails. Sitting next to him Robbie knew there was nothing else to do but wait.

"You're lucky Robbie, any longer and he'd die," Alexander said twenty minutes later after checking Jerry out. "These pills are basically Charcoal pills people use for overdose; it will soak up the remains of the drugs. He'll throw them up when their job is done so don't worry if he vomits. What did he take exactly?" "I'll be honest with you Alexander I owe you that much, it's a new caffeine pill that I invented and he took five times the recommended amount, I warned him." Alexander held his hand out. "I'm not going to turn you in but give me a pill or two and I'll use my lab to see what other side effects might come up" "Okay but I trust you Alexander, under the table okay?" Alexander nodded as Robbie handed the pills over and walked off. "Can you trust him?" Kyle asked. "He saved Jerry's life and wont report us; I don't think we have a choice. We should get to school so no one suspects anything."

It was true, the breakup of Jade and Beck rocked the school but the reality had been pretty mellow. They had both just simply stopped loving each other in that way, they were still friends but nothing more. Jade had seen him with other girls and felt nothing; those feelings seem to transfer to Robbie. The shy friend was always there for her and especially since he grew a pair she really liked this new Robbie. Of course she noticed that he arrived to school later, missing first period. She wished it was the date they had, that she affected him that much but that wasn't the case, there was something else with him that was wrong and from across the hall where she watched him she would find out exactly what was wrong.


End file.
